Snow causes traffic problems throughout region

Ambulances and rescue units congregate at the scene of a crash on Route 422 eastbound in the construction area in Lower Pottsgrove during the height of Sunday's storm. It was reported that two people were trapped in the vehicle after it overturned down the enbankment in the left side of the picture. Traffic was slowed in both directions. (Photo by Tom Kelly III)

Motorists stop to assist a vehicle that slid off the road on southbound Route 100 in Upper Pottsgrove. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

Snow and ice arrived much earlier — and in greater amounts — than anticipated on Sunday, causing traffic issues and other nuisances throughout the region.

Late in the morning, snow began falling well before the late afternoon/early evening time slot forecasters predicted.

Charles Metzger, a spokesman with PennDOT, said that the agency was “not surprised,” though, and had 300 trucks out on their roads Saturday night and throughout the day Sunday.

He said the trucks sprayed a salt brine Saturday night in anticipation of the storm; however, the nature of the snow made for some difficult conditions, even with the brine.

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“One of the terms I heard used today by meteorologists was ‘training,’” Metzger said.

Different bands of the storm linked up to drop a concentrated amount of snow, at points more than two inches an hour, especially in the Philadelphia and eastern Montgomery County region.

“The weather just got too much for some people,” he said.

According to the National Weather Service based in Mount Holly, N.J., three and a half inches of snow were on the ground in Spring City by 5 p.m. In Pottstown, the count was at two and a half by the same time.

Center City Philadelphia had more than five inches by 4 p.m.

When PennDOT realized the volume of snow they were facing, 115 more crews were brought on to combat the precipitation, Metzger said.

An operator with Montgomery County Emergency Dispatch confirmed they were seeing a “very high” volume of calls for crashes due to the weather. He said the worst crashes didn’t come in from any particular spot, but all throughout the county.

Metzger said he heard of a few crashes on Route 422 and some on Route 202 near its link with I-76. The worst incident, he said, was on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, outside of PennDOT’s jurisdiction.

One man was killed near the Morgantown exit in the westbound lanes around 12:30 p.m. when he was involved in a minor crash, then got out and was struck by another vehicle, according to a Pennsylvania Turnpike official. What followed was a chain-reaction of minor crashes that involved roughly 50 vehicles.

Officials did not identify the victim Sunday and it was unclear whether the initial crash was weather-related.

Initially, the westbound lanes of the turnpike were shut down, but Metzger said around 6:15 p.m., that he heard one lane was open heading west and all traffic on the eastbound side was moving unimpeded.

On I-95 in Philadelphia around Lincoln Financial Field and beyond, crashes shut down sections of the highway. In areas where crashes weren’t halting traffic, vehicles moved at a crawl, many with caution lights flashing, as roads were completely covered with snow and ice.

In many spots through the region, cars could be seen abandoned on the side of the road with snow collecting on the roofs.

“For the most part, things have been opened,” due to the roving PennDOT crews, Metzger said.

The tracking website Flightaware.com estimates more than 2,500 flights were cancelled nationwide as of Sunday evening and more than 6,000 flights were delayed. That follows two days of similarly difficult travel conditions.

Philadelphia International Airport had a temporary ground stop Sunday afternoon with snow totals around 4 to 6 inches. Spokeswoman Stacey Jackson said a number of passengers were expected to remain in the airport overnight since area hotels had been full for several days. She said staff would hand out pillows and blankets to travelers to make them “feel at home even though they are not.”

Despite the terrible weather, several events went on as usual in the region.

Pottstown’s 28th annual Holiday Homes tour went off as planned.

Sheila Dugan, the Main Street Manager of the Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority (PDIDA), in her first year of organizing the event, said the tours went “very well.”

“There are still people going through,” she said around 5:30 p.m., about an hour and a half before the tours were scheduled to finish up.

She characterized the flow of visitors through the historic homes as “steady” but said she wouldn’t be able to tell exactly how many were on the tour for at least a few days.

The inclement weather made things a little challenging but didn’t derail everything.

Santa Claus’ arrival into Pottstown was such a case where plans had to be shuffled. He was brought in a different way than planned and there weren’t as many children in attendance as Dugan hoped, but she said she was glad they went forward with it anyway instead of cancelling.

In Philadelphia, the Eagles downed the Detroit Lions in impressive fashion, putting up 34 points in the second half with a heavy blanket of snow on the field.

“Our weather report said it wasn’t going to rain or snow until haftime,” said Eagles head coach Chip Kelly in his post-game press conference. “That didn’t turn out so well.”

Due to the conditions, much of the Eagles’ attack came on the ground, as the team amassed 299 rushing yards,

The Eagles attempted no field goals or extra points because the footing in the snow would have been too difficult, Kelly explained.

Crews armed with snow shovels took advantage of timeouts to clear out yard lines.

A former coach at the University of New Hampshire, Kelly’s no stranger to snow, but maybe not so much.

“I had a few games in New Hampshire where it snowed, but nothing like this,” he said.

According to the National Weather service’s forecast, the “active weather should be tapering down as we go through Monday.”

Metzger was confident the situation would improve for Monday morning’s commute.

“We’re going to keep on cruising. Temperatures will rise throughout tonight,” he told The Mercury Sunday. “As the night goes on and traffic becomes less and less, we’ll be able to really work on everything.”

About the Author

Frank Otto is a general assignment reporter covering Phoenixville, Limerick and Spring-Ford schools in addition to features and spot news. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Otto moonlights with the sports department on occasion. Reach the author at fotto@pottsmerc.com
or follow Frank on Twitter: @fottojourno.